Flip to the Last Page- Jashin

I’m still not sure how much differs between canon!DoS and FttLP–because surely there should be some logistical consequences to telepathic Nara twins. But this ficlet pre-supposes that, except for the telepathy, everything has gone exactly the same… Hope you enjoy, dona, and thanks again for the prompt!

~

It was like nothing they had ever experienced before.

Shikako still remembers the Kyuubi with startling, crystal clarity–that dense, corrosive aura which haunts their nightmares to this day.

In the Land of Waves, she was the first to experience a jounin’s killing intent, freezing Shikamaru with fear while his team was painting a fence of all things.

Even though the ultimate victory had been won through compassion and not military might, it had been proof of concept: reinforcements assembled to dismantle Gatou’s empire. Something that was stress tested a worrying amount, with how frequently Shikako’s missions went awry.

But all of those, even the Kyuubi, were nothing compared to a god.

///

It wasn’t even like Gelel, really.

In the Dead Wastes of Wind Country, the differences between them were never more clear. Being told a song exists is not the same as hearing it for oneself.

And in those moments of heart-stopping panic it had hurt–had burned like staring directly in the sun–but he had gotten her back, if somewhat changed.

But that searing starlight had been incidental, the cost of interacting with beings with more power beyond comprehension: Gelel had been benign.

The same could never be said of Jashin.

///

The worst part, maybe, was that there was no warning.

Even with that damned Tsukuyomi–which had cut them off from each other, Shikamaru alone for the first time in his life knowing that the entire time his twin was being tortured and he could do nothing–there had been even the vaguest idea that it might happen.

One moment, he had been relieved that his sister’s S-ranked mission was simple intel gathering in a sleepy resort town, the next…

Death would have been a kindness.

///

When Shikaku Nara sees his daughter covered in blood and ash, slung over the back of her strongest deer summon, walking out of the razed and ruined remains of Land of Hot Springs, he knows he must go home even before the message comes from Konoha.

He doesn’t know what Shikako went through, but he knows both of his heirs are in dire straights.